downtown Minneapolis highway
Exactly halfway between the two coasts, with the largest airport in the Upper Midwest, Minneapolis is easy to get to and, once you’re here, easy to get around.
Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport (MSP) (612/726-5555, www.mspairport.com, daily 24 hours) is the country’s 17th busiest airport by passenger boardings and is frequently ranked among the best airports in the country, based on a reader survey focused on amenities and service. It is 16 miles southeast of downtown Minneapolis and 12 miles southwest of downtown St. Paul, in the Fort Snelling unincorporated area. Once you’re on the main concourse, shopping and dining and listening to the piano player, it’s easy to understand why. (Fun trivia: The Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport was the set for parts of the 1970 film Airport.)
downtown Minneapolis highway
MSP is Delta Air Lines’ third-largest hub, and the airline (www.delta.com) dominates most of the gates in the main terminal, formerly the Lindbergh Terminal and now uninspiringly known as Terminal 1. The other carrier that uses MSP as its main hub, Sun Country (www.suncountry.com), takes up much of the considerably smaller Terminal 2, formerly the Humphrey Terminal. In all, 14 domestic airlines and two international airlines serve the airport.
Make sure you know which terminal you’re flying to or from. Check your paper ticket or itinerary for “Terminal 1” or “Terminal 2.” If you need to travel between the two terminals, the best way to go is via the light rail, which runs 24 hours and is free of charge on this portion of the track alone. The trains run every 7-15 minutes. The light-rail station at Terminal 1 is underground, between the blue and red parking ramps. Get on the free people-mover tram one level below the baggage claim and ride it to the light rail station. The light-rail station at Terminal 2 is on the north side of the orange parking ramp. Take the skyway from level 2 and follow the signs.
The light rail is the easiest way to get into downtown Minneapolis. Trains run nearly 24 hours a day (with just a couple of runs in the wee hours between midnight and 3:30am), and the comfortable trip takes just 25 minutes. Buy a ticket ($3.25 during rush hours, $2.50 at other times) from the machine on the platform before you board the train. There are no fare boxes on the trains.
Metro Transit buses from the airport serve St. Paul and other parts of Minneapolis. Buses leave from level 1 of the blue and red parking ramps at Terminal 1. If you land at Terminal 2 and need to catch a bus, you have to take the light rail to Terminal 1.
Airport taxis leave from the tram level at Terminal 1 (follow signs to Ground Transportation) and from the Terminal 2 parking ramp on level 1. Fares are metered at $2.75 per mile with a $2.75 flag drop and an additional $4.25 airport fee. The fare to downtown Minneapolis will run between $38 and $49 and to downtown St. Paul between $30 and $37. The Super Shuttle (612/827-7777, www.supershuttle.com) will take you to either downtown for between $18 and $89, depending on whether you want a shared shuttle or a private car. Book online or by phone or catch a last-minute ride at the Super Shuttle service desk on the ground transportation level of Terminal 1. The shuttle also stops at Terminal 2, on the ground level of the parking lot.
Both Uber (www.uber.com) and Lyft (www.lyft.com) now serve the airport. To meet your ride at Terminal 1, go to level 2 of the green parking ramp. Signs pointing to App-Based Ride Services will get you there. At Terminal 2, go to the ground transportation center, on the ground level of the purple parking ramp. Prices are roughly comparable to taxis.
Since 2012, Amtrak trains once again pull in and out of the refurbished Union Depot (214 4th St. E., St. Paul, www.amtrak.com), which hadn’t seen train traffic since 1971.
One route, the Empire Builder, passes through here, a single train in each direction. The Empire Builder travels between Chicago and Seattle, arriving in St. Paul around 10:30pm headed westbound and around 7am headed east. That is, those are the scheduled times. The train is notoriously unpredictable, often held up by bad weather in the Rocky Mountains or other issues near Chicago.
Upon arriving in St. Paul, you can board a St. Paul city bus or a Greyhound or regional bus, such as Jefferson Lines. The light rail Green Line connects Union Depot with Target Field in downtown Minneapolis.
Greyhound buses stop at Hawthorne Transportation Center (950 Hawthorne Ave., Minneapolis, 612/371-3325, www.greyhound.com) on the western edge of downtown Minneapolis, convenient to many Metro Transit bus routes and a short walk from the light-rail lines.
Jefferson Lines buses, which serve outstate Minnesota and much of the Midwest, also use the Hawthorne Transportation Center, with additional stops at the University of Minnesota campus, the Mall of America, the airport, and Union Depot.
Metro Transit operates city buses and two light-rail lines within Minneapolis and St. Paul and the surrounding suburbs. The route coverage is good, but anyone planning to rely on public transportation outside of the downtown areas should remember to plan extra time for changing buses and for longer waits during off-peak hours.
Full fare is $3.25 during peak hours (Mon.-Fri. 6am-9am and 3pm-6:30pm) and $2.50 otherwise, with discounts for seniors and people with disabilities with proper ID. Kids under 6 ride free. Within the designated downtown zones in both Minneapolis and St. Paul, the fare is just $0.50. Drop exact change into the box; the driver can’t make change. If you ask the driver for a transfer as you board, he or she will give you a ticket good on any other bus or train within the next 2.5 hours.
For fare passes, route maps, and any other information, go to Metro Transit stores in downtown Minneapolis (719 Marquette Ave., Minneapolis, Mon.-Fri. 7:30am-5pm), downtown St. Paul (101 5th St. E., skyway level, St. Paul, Mon.-Fri. 7:30am-4:45pm), and at the Mall of America (60 E. Broadway, Bloomington, Tues.-Fri. 3pm-6:30pm, Sat. noon-2pm and 3pm-6:30pm). There’s a convenient trip planner at www.metrotransit.org: Enter your starting point, destination, and the time, and the website will generate a handful of itineraries, complete with maps and walking directions.
The light-rail Blue Line runs between Target Field in downtown Minneapolis and the Mall of America, stopping at the Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport. The Green Line connects Target Field with Union Depot in downtown St. Paul. Fares are the same as on the buses. Buy tickets from the vending kiosks on the platforms (cash and credit cards accepted). Ticketing is on the honor system, but conductors do check frequently and fines are hefty. Trains run mostly around the clock, with just a few trains between midnight and 3:30am. Wait times are about 7-8 minutes during peak times and more than 30 minutes in the wee hours.
The Twin Cities’ first commuter rail line, Northstar (www.metrotransit.org/northstar), carries passengers from downtown Minneapolis, also by Target Field, to Big Lake, about 45 miles to the north, via Fridley, Coon Rapids, Anoka, and Elk River. Five departures in each direction serve morning commuters (between 6:30 and 8:45), and five serve evening commuters (between 3:30 and 5:30) for the 50-minute trip. The ride from Minneapolis to Big Lake costs $6.25, and rides between other stations cost $3.25.
If you’d like more flexibility and freedom in your travel than you might get from public transportation, you’ll need a car. In theory, navigating the cities is fairly straightforward, as both are laid out primarily in a grid system. But nature throws up enough surprises, from rivers to creeks to lakes and major highways, that you’ll want to invest in a good road map. When you’re at the bookstore perusing maps, make sure you find one that gives you the level of detail you need. Many map publishers cover the whole metro area but without any detail anywhere except in insets of downtown Minneapolis and St. Paul. The AAA Headquarters just south of Minneapolis (5400 Auto Club Way, 952/927-2600, Mon.-Thurs. 8am-7pm, Fri. 8am-6pm, Sat. 9am-5pm) is a great place to get maps of all sorts.
Every major rental car company has an outlet at the airport. Avis Rent A Car (www.avis.com) has locations in both downtown Minneapolis (829 3rd Ave. S., Minneapolis, 612/332-6321) and downtown St. Paul (411 Minnesota St., St. Paul, 651/917-9955).
Street parking in downtown Minneapolis and St. Paul is metered, and meters now accept credit cards and bills. Ramps and lots, which are also well signed and easy to find, cost $8-20 a day. In residential neighborhoods, pay attention to signs restricting parking to a single side of the street during certain times. At city parks, watch for signs restricting parking to those with prepurchased parking passes.
Outside of downtown Minneapolis and St. Paul, forget trying to hail a cab. In fact, forget trying to hail a cab downtown, too. Instead, head for the nearest major hotel and look for the taxis parked at the rank outside. Minneapolis has created late-night taxi stands in the downtown Warehouse District and at Lake Street and Hennepin.
Fares are standardized: $2.75 flag drop plus $2.75 per mile. An additional fee of $4.25 is added to airport trips. Trips originating at the airport are metered at $2.50 per mile.
Rather than trying to hail a cab, call one—as far in advance as you can, if possible. There are dozens of small companies; in Minneapolis, try Yellow Taxi (800/829-4222) or Blue & White Taxi (612/333-3333). St. Paul companies include City Wide Cab Co. (651/489-1111) and Diamond Cab (651/642-1188). There may be a $5 minimum fare. If you’re traveling between downtown Minneapolis and downtown St. Paul, expect to pay about $30; from downtown Minneapolis to the Mall of America it’s about $34.
Like most American cities, the Twin Cities are now well served by Uber and Lyft.
Both Minneapolis and St. Paul are terrific cities to navigate by bike. In fact, each city maintains well over 100 miles of dedicated bike lanes and paved off-road trails. Bike racks are common throughout the cities.
All Metro Transit buses are equipped with bike racks for use at no extra charge, and bikes are allowed on light rail trains.
Purchase the comprehensive Twin Cities Bike Map online at www.bikeverywhere.com. It’s compiled by avid local cyclists, updated every three years, and printed on heavy water- and tear-resistant paper. It is also available at bookstores and bike shops in the Twin Cities. Map PDFs are available online from the Metropolitan Council (www.metrocouncil.org), the City of Minneapolis (www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/bicycles), and St. Paul (www.stpaul.gov).
Nice Ride (877/551-6423, www.niceridemn.org; $6 for 24 hours, $30 for 30 days) is a popular self-service, short-term bike rental service. Find more information on renting bikes in the Recreation chapter.
Another way to take advantage of the city’s bike paths is via scooter, though the culture around scooter use is still developing. Note also that scooters are not yet so prevalent that you can rely on drivers to be aware of them. Both of the national app-and-drop scooter rental companies, Bird (www.bird.co) and Lime (www.li.me), operate in the Twin Cities, and their black or bright green products—respectively—are getting easier to find. Download either app and you’re good to go. For both companies, scooters cost $1 to unlock and $0.15 per minute. Lime also has bike rentals that cost $1 to unlock and $0.05 per minute.
All Metro Transit buses are equipped with wheelchair lifts. All light-rail trains have areas set aside for wheelchair customers and offer step-free access so riders in wheelchairs can roll right on. All platforms are wheelchair accessible. For more information, call 612/373-3333 or ask for an Accessible Transit brochure at Metro Transit stores.
Take a tip from Minnesota brides: October, not June, is the most popular month for weddings in Minnesota. That’s when the Twin Cities are at their best: after the sticky summer and before the snow flies. May and June are a close second, although spring is an elusive thing here, lasting just a week or two. Summer is high season, when you’ll see longer hours at venues, slightly higher hotel prices (except downtown), and venues packed with music and festivals. In late June, the sun sets at around 9pm and dusk lingers until around 10pm. But don’t count out the winter! Yes, the snow and cold can add a bit of hassle, but these cities know how to deal with it, even how to revel in it (case in point: late January’s Winter Carnival).
If you’re accustomed to looking smart and spiffy, by all means pack those trendy or formal clothes. But if your inclination is toward jeans and casual wear, you’ll blend right in here. If you’re so inclined, you should absolutely bring walking or running shoes or biking gear. Winter visitors will need a heavy coat, gloves, and a good scarf and hat. A possible exception can be made for business travelers and conventioneers staying in hotels connected to the skyways. In June, July, and August, rainstorms can be sudden and severe, calling for an umbrella and jacket.
Nicollet Mall includes a very large Visitor Information Center (505 Nicollet Mall, Minneapolis, 612/466-7170, open Mon.-Sat. 10am-7pm, Sun. noon-5pm) with city-themed retail space. You can contact Meet Minneapolis (888/676-6757, www.minneapolis.org), the city’s convention and visitors association, to request information or go to its well-organized and attractive website. The Minneapolis Convention Center (1301 2nd Ave. S., Minneapolis, 612/335-6000, www.minneapolisconventioncenter.org) is right on the southern edge of downtown Minneapolis and connected to the skyway system. If you see someone in a neon-green top with a DID (Downtown Improvement District) logo, say hi. These are “ambassadors,” and their job is to keep downtown looking good, to be welcoming and answer questions, and to be an extra pair of eyes and ears keeping people safe.
St. Paul’s Visitor Information Center is in the Landmark Center (75 5th St. W., St. Paul, 651/292-3225). You can also get help by contacting the St. Paul Convention and Visitors Association (800/627-6101, www.stpaulcvb.org). St. Paul’s convention center is the RiverCentre (199 Kellogg Blvd. W., St. Paul, 651/265-4800, www.rivercentre.org).
Minneapolis and St. Paul are both early-to-bed, early-to-rise places. Coffee shops open at 6am or 6:30am. Office workers start their day at 8am or even before. Favorite spots for a leisurely weekend breakfast or brunch start to fill up at the not-so-leisurely hour of 9am. And, having gotten started so early, many people are ready to pack it in early. You’re unlikely to get an office worker on the phone after 5pm. Dinner at 6pm is a common reservation request. And it’s hard to find a restaurant still serving after 9pm on weekdays and 10pm on weekends. Last call in Minneapolis and St. Paul bars is 2am—and even then they don’t have to kick a lot of people out the door.
“Summer hours” is another interesting Minnesota phenomenon: Many workplaces shift employees’ schedules during the tantalizing months of June, July, and August so that they work an extra hour Monday through Thursday and leave at noon on Friday, presumably to head to the family cabin. Even at workplaces that don’t officially observe summer hours, trying to get hold of a professional on a summer Friday afternoon is a fool’s errand.
As in most other areas of the United States, 15-20 percent is a standard tip for good service at restaurants, salons, valet parking, and other service establishments. Taxi drivers, too, expect a tip. If you’re paying cash, it’s easiest to hand over exactly what you’d like to pay in total and say, “No change, thanks!” or to specify the amount of change you’d like back.
Baggers at grocery stores do not work for tips and at some establishments cannot accept them.
Tipping your hotel concierge $5-10 per service is standard, as is, at fancier hotels, leaving $2-10 per day for the housekeeping staff.
At the airport, if you check your bag with a skycap at the curb, be prepared to tip about $3-5 per bag, plus a little more if they go out of their way for you. The courtesy cart drivers do not expect tips but do appreciate them, especially if they go above and beyond.
Smoking is on the decline in Minnesota, as it is throughout the country. About 14 percent of adult Minnesotans smoke, compared to about 18 percent of Americans nationwide.
The Freedom to Breathe Act, enacted in 2007, prohibits smoking in any indoor public space. This means all Minnesota restaurants, bars, bowling alleys, coffee shops, and office buildings are entirely smoke-free. Smoking is prohibited in the common areas of hotels, but hotel management may choose to allow it in hotel rooms themselves.
Smoking is also permitted on outdoor patios of bars and restaurants, so long as they aren’t closed in under a tent. Both the smoker and the owner of the establishment can be charged with a misdemeanor in case of a violation. The law is enforced on a complaint basis only—which means police officers aren’t patrolling bars and restaurants looking for illicit ashtrays—but Minnesotans in general are a compliant people, and you are unlikely to see anyone violating the ban.
The largest banks in the Twin Cities are Wells Fargo (www.wellsfargo.com) and TCF Bank (www.tcfbank.com). You’ll find ATMs for both banks all over town. You’ll also encounter Bank of America (www.bankofamerica.com), Bremer Bank (www.bremer.com), Franklin Bank (www.franklinbank.com), and U.S. Bank (www.usbank.com).
Until 1998, the area code for the whole of the Twin Cities area was 612. That area has subdivided twice since then. Minneapolis (and a small portion of the southern suburb of Richfield) retained the 612 code. St. Paul and the eastern suburbs got 651. The northeastern suburbs took 763 and the southeastern suburbs 952. All calls within all four area codes are local calls, as are calls from the Twin Cities to parts of the 507 area code to the south and to parts of the 320 area code to the north.
All Hennepin County Library branches (www.hclib.org), which include Minneapolis libraries, and all St. Paul Public Library branches (www.stpaul.lib.mn.us) offer free public wireless Internet access. You do not need to have a library card to bring your own computer and work in the library. Library computer stations are reserved for library cardholders. Hennepin County Library does not issue cards to out-of-state residents, and St. Paul Public Library charges non-Minnesotans $45 a year.
Nearly all independent coffee shops in town, including all Dunn Bros. locations, offer free Wi-Fi (though they do ask that you be courteous to customers who have come to, you know, drink coffee), and many have terminals for customer use (generally limited to 15 minutes). Panera Bread and Bruegger’s Bagels are two chains that commonly offer free Wi-Fi for unlimited use.
There are five post office locations in downtown Minneapolis: the main post office (100 1st St. S., Minneapolis, 612/349-4715, Mon.-Fri. 7am-8pm, Sat. 9am-1pm), inside the Butler Square building (100 6th St. N., Ste. 120B, Minneapolis, 612/333-3688, Mon.-Fri. 9am-1:15pm and 2:30pm-5pm), a few blocks from Loring Park (18 12th St. N., Minneapolis, 612/333-6213, Mon.-Fri. 8:30am-5pm, Sat. 9am-1pm), in an office building on the north end of town (307 4th Ave. S., Minneapolis, 612/333-3153, Mon.-Fri. 9am-5pm), and in an office building a little to the south (110 8th St. S., Minneapolis, 612/333-2574, Mon.-Fri. 7:30am-5pm).
There are two post offices in downtown St. Paul: the main post office (180 Kellogg Blvd. E., St. Paul, 651/293-6035, Mon.-Fri. 8:30am-5:30pm, Sat. 9:30am-noon) and the Uptown branch (408 St. Peter St., St. Paul, 651/889-2457, Mon.-Fri. 8:30am-5pm). Go to www.usps.com to find one of the dozens of other post offices in the metro area.
The UPS Store is an alternative to the U.S. Postal Service and a good place to pick up packing supplies. There’s one in downtown Minneapolis (40 7th St. S., Ste. 212, Minneapolis, 612/332-4117, Mon.-Thurs. 7am-7pm, Fri. 7am-6pm, Sat. 10am-4pm) and—convenient if you’ve just done a lot of shopping—one on Grand Avenue in St. Paul (1043 Grand Ave., St. Paul, 651/222-2019, Mon.-Fri. 8:30am-7pm, Sat. 9am-5pm, Sun. 11am-4pm). Go to www.ups.com to find other UPS Stores in the area.
There are FedEx drop boxes all over the central business districts in downtown Minneapolis and St. Paul (check the skyway levels of buildings as well as the lobbies). To talk to an actual human being when you FedEx your package, you’ll have to go to the FedEx Kinko’s, with branches in the IDS Center (80 8th St. S., Ste. 180, Minneapolis, 612/343-8000, daily 24 hours), in South Minneapolis (1430 Lake St. W., Minneapolis, 612/822-7700, daily 24 hours), and in the Summit-University neighborhood of St. Paul (58 Snelling Ave. S., St. Paul, 651/699-9671, daily 24 hours).
If you need to have a package or papers delivered within the Twin Cities right away, two large and well-reputed messenger services are Street Fleet (612/623-9999, www.streetfleet.com) and Quicksilver Express (651/484-1111, www.qec.com).
Two major daily newspapers serve the Twin Cities. The Minneapolis Star Tribune (www.startribune.com) was part of the McClatchy chain until 2006, when McClatchy sold it to a private equity firm. The Strib, as it is known, gets a lot of guff locally for its supposed liberal leanings, but we will leave that to readers to discern. It has a daily print circulation of 240,000. The Minneapolis Tribune, one of the two papers that merged to form the Star Tribune, dates back to 1867.
The St. Paul Pioneer Press (www.twincities.com) is a descendant of the area’s oldest daily newspaper, the St. Paul Pioneer, founded in 1849, and it serves the east metro area. (It’s fairly easy to find a Star Tribune in St. Paul but not so easy to find a Pioneer Press in Minneapolis.) The PiPress, as it is known, has a daily print circulation of about 130,000.
The Twin Cities are now down to one alternative weekly, City Pages (www.citypages.com so alternative now that it is owned by the Star Tribune. City Pages and the now-defunct Twin Cities Reader egged each other on to scoops and admirable reporting until Stern Publishing (now Village Voice Media) purchased both in 1997 and shut down the Reader. There are, however, robust neighborhood newspapers in the area, including the Downtown Journal (www.dtjournal.com), a biweekly freebie serving downtown Minneapolis, and its sister the Southwest Journal (www.swjournal.com), serving southwest Minneapolis. In St. Paul, the biweekly Villager (www.myvillager.com) serves the Summit-University neighborhood and, to some extent, downtown St. Paul.
The University of Minnesota’s student newspaper, the Minnesota Daily (www.mndaily.com), is one of the largest student-run newspapers in the country, with a daily circulation of 24,000. It is published every weekday during the school year and twice weekly during the summer. The paper is entirely student-run and -staffed and is supported largely by (student-sold) advertising. Daily alumni can be found in nearly every newsroom in the Twin Cities, if not throughout Minnesota. You can find it free on racks in and around the U of M campus.
Also free to pick up on many newsstands are several papers serving individual ethnic communities in the Twin Cities. Insight News (www.insightnews.com) has covered the African American community since 1974. It hits newsstands every Monday. The weekly Asian American Press (www.aapress.com) also publishes in English, covering the Asian American and Pacific Islander communities. La Prensa de Minnesota (www.laprensademn.com) is published in both English and Spanish (in a single edition). Latino Communications Network publishes both Spanish-language newspapers and the weekly entertainment tabloid Vida y Sabor (www.vidaysabor.net), aimed at a younger audience.
The Twin Cities also have two big, glossy lifestyle magazines. Mpls.St.Paul Magazine (www.mspmag.com) and Minnesota Monthly (www.minnesotamonthly.com) are the two established publications, with a moneyed, slightly older readership. Twin Cities Business (www.tcbmag.com) and Minnesota Business (www.minnesotabusiness.com) are both full-color, glossy monthlies serving the business community, while Finance and Commerce (www.finance-commerce.com) is a must-read for movers and shakers.
Two more free magazines that are worth picking up are the ubiquitous and remarkably thick biweekly Lavender (www.lavendermagazine), serving the GLBT community, and the quarterly literary journal with a national reputation, Rain Taxi (www.raintaxi.com).
Corporate radio has the same stranglehold on the Twin Cities market as it does everywhere else. But, as you spin the dial, a few unique frequencies will stand out. KNOW 91.1 is the home of Minnesota Public Radio (www.mpr.org), where several nationally syndicated programs originate, including Live from Here with Chris Thile. MPR’s music station, The Current 89.3 (www.mpr.org), plays a truly innovative mix of new and time-tested alternative music. Cities 97.1 (www.cities97.com) reaches a grown-up audience whose beloved 1980s hits are veering toward easy listening.
For slick right-wing talk, tune to KTLK 1003 (www.ktlkfm.com). For community-access lefty talk (including news from Democracy Now) and world music, tune to KFAI 90.3 (www.kfai.org). Minneapolis Public School students staff the jazz station KBEM 88.5 (www.jazz88fm.com) 35 hours a week, with professional announcers and syndicated programming filling out the rest of the schedule. FM 107.1 (www.fm1071.com) fills the day with chatter geared toward a female audience.
On the AM dial, WCCO 830 (www.wccoradio.com), “The Good Neighbor,” has kept Minnesotans informed for generations. KLBB 1220 (www.klbbradio.com) plays nostalgic hits, heavy on the Frank Sinatra. You never know what you’re going to get with student DJs spinning the tunes at the University of Minnesota’s KUOM 770 AM (www.radiok.org). It’s all sports all the time at KFAN 1130 (www.kfan.com). KSTP 1500 (www.am1500.com) covers the waterfront with news and sports, including Twins baseball games. KTNF 950 (www.am950.com) broadcasts lifestyle chat and left-wing politics. AM 1280 The Patriot (www.am1280thepatriot.com) covers the other end of the political spectrum. La Invasora 1400 (www.lainvasora1400.com) broadcasts music, news, and talk in Spanish.
All the major television networks have affiliates in the Twin Cities. Twin Cities Public Television (www.tpt.org) runs four channels, including tpt 2, its main channel; tpt MN for Minnesota-focused original programming; tpt Life for cooking and home improvement; and a weather channel.
Of the numerous public access stations in the Twin Cities, Minneapolis Television Network (www.mtn.org), Metro Cable Network (www.mcn6.org), and St. Paul Neighborhood Network (www.spnn.org) are the biggest.
Some travelers will remember the “Murderapolis” headlines of the 1990s, when the titillating combination of Minneapolis’s high murder rate and its staid Midwestern reputation proved too much for the national media to resist. Those days are past, and as a visitor, especially in the two downtowns and in the residential neighborhoods of southwest Minneapolis, St. Anthony, and south of I-94 in St. Paul, you are unlikely to experience even a hint of trouble. Some visitors to downtown Minneapolis, however, are surprised by the number of panhandlers they encounter on Hennepin Avenue and Nicollet Mall. Panhandling is not illegal unless it is aggressive. The city defines “aggressive panhandling” as asking repetitively for money after a person has said no, or asking for money in a confined or intimidating place (for example, in a bus shelter or on a bus, near an ATM, or at a sidewalk café). If this bothers you, the city advises you to call 911 or tell a cop.
There are a few areas where you want to be careful. Much of the city’s crime takes place in North Minneapolis, which is north of downtown and west of the Mississippi River. This is an almost entirely residential area, so there isn’t much to attract visitors, in any case. In downtown Minneapolis, stay alert as you bar-hop along 1st Avenue after dark. In South Minneapolis, be cautious and stick with a friend on and around Lake Street in the evenings. If you’re the sort to stand on the light rail platform obliviously scrolling through your phone, you should know that there’s a class of criminal watching for people just like you. Be aware of your surroundings.
St. Paul’s crime rate is significantly lower than Minneapolis’s, but there are caveats here, as well. Downtown St. Paul isn’t statistically a dangerous place to be, even after dark, but it is deserted, which is a good signal that you don’t want to be wandering about alone. Use the buddy system around the Xcel Energy Center and around the bars along West 7th Street. And University Avenue, especially the east end of it, just northwest of the Minnesota State Capitol, is a place where you want to keep your wits about you.
Both downtown Minneapolis and downtown St. Paul have excellent hospitals. Hennepin County Medical Center (701 Park Ave., Minneapolis, 612/873-3000, www.hcmc.org) is in downtown Minneapolis. Also convenient to downtown, in South Minneapolis, are Abbott Northwestern Hospital (800 28th St. E., Minneapolis, 612/863-4000, www.abbottnorthwestern.com) and Children’s Hospitals and Clinics (2525 Chicago Ave. S., Minneapolis, 612/813-6000, www.childrensmn.org).
Clustered around downtown St. Paul, you’ll find Bethesda Hospital (559 Capitol Blvd., St. Paul, 651/232-2000, www.bethesdahospital.org), Regions Hospital (640 Jackson St., St. Paul, 651/254-3456, www.regionshospital.com), St. Joseph’s Hospital (69 Exchange St. W., St. Paul, 651/232-3000, www.stjosephs-stpaul.org), United Hospital (333 Smith Ave. N., St. Paul, 651/241-8000, www.unitedhospital.com), and Children’s Hospitals and Clinics (345 Smith Ave. N., St. Paul, 651/220-6000, www.childrensmn.org). Gillette Children’s (200 University Ave. E., St. Paul, 651/291-2848, www.gillettechildrens.org) is also in downtown St. Paul, but it offers specialized pediatric services and wouldn’t be your first stop for an emergency.
Roughly halfway between the two downtowns are the two campuses of the University of Minnesota Medical Center: University of Minnesota Medical Center/Children’s Hospital, Fairview Riverside campus (2450 Riverside Ave., Minneapolis, 612/273-3000, www.university.fairview.org) and University of Minnesota Medical Center/Children’s Hospital, Fairview University campus (500 Harvard St., Minneapolis, 612/273-3000, www.university.fairview.org).
In the southern suburbs, head to Fairview Southdale Hospital (6401 France Ave. S., Edina, 952/924-5000, www.southdale.fairview.org). The most convenient hospital in the western suburbs is Methodist Hospital (6500 Excelsior Blvd., St. Louis Park, 952/993-5000, www.parknicollet.com/methodist). In the northern and eastern suburbs, St. John’s Hospital (1575 Beam Ave., Maplewood, 651/232-7000, www.stjohnshospital-mn.org) is convenient.
The Twin Cities Veterans Administration hospital is Minneapolis VA Medical Center (1 Veterans Dr., Minneapolis, 612/725-2000, www.va.gov/minneapolis).
If the emergency room isn’t the appropriate option but you can’t wait to get an appointment, try urgent care.
Park Nicollet maintains six urgent care clinics. Two convenient ones in the west metro area are Park Nicollet Clinic-St. Louis Park (3800 Park Nicollet Blvd., St. Louis Park, 952/993-1000, www.parknicollet.com, Mon.-Fri. 8am-8pm, Sat.-Sun. 8am-5pm) and Park Nicollet Clinic-Maple Grove (15800 95th Ave. N., Maple Grove, 952/993-1440, www.parknicollet.com). Approximate wait times are updated in real time on their website.
HealthPartners has eight urgent care clinics. The three in Minneapolis and St. Paul proper are HealthPartners St. Paul (205 Wabasha St., St. Paul, 952/853-8800, www.healthpartners.com, Mon.-Fri. 5pm-9pm, Sat.-Sun. 9am-8pm), HealthPartners Como (2500 Como Ave., St. Paul, 952/853-8800, www.healthpartners.com, Mon.-Fri. 1pm-9pm, Sat. 9am-8pm), and HealthPartners Riverside (2220 Riverside Ave., Minneapolis, 952/853-8800, www.healthpartners.com, Mon.-Fri. 5pm-9pm, Sat. 9am-5pm, Sun. noon-5pm).
Several Target stores operate clinics for diagnosing and treating common minor ailments such as strep and pinkeye. The Target in downtown Minneapolis (900 Nicollet Mall, Minneapolis, 612/338-0085, www.target.com, Mon.-Fri. 8am-6pm, Sat. 9am-4pm) and the one in North St. Paul (2199 Hwy. 36E, North St. Paul, 651/779-5986, www.target.com, Mon.-Fri. 8am-8pm, Sat.-Sun. 9am-4pm) are two that have clinics.
Most Targets also have full-service pharmacies (and you truly can’t throw . . . well, anything you can actually throw . . . without hitting a Target in the Twin Cities).
For police and fire emergencies in the Twin Cities, dial 911.
The nonemergency number for the St. Paul Police Department is 651/291-1111.
To report nonemergency crimes in Minneapolis, call 311. This is also the number you use to contact any department in the City of Minneapolis. The helpful folks who answer the phone will connect you to the right people. For information about a crime in Minneapolis, call the Tip Line at 612/692-8477.